syncopated.

Trip to France part 2

Trip To France Part 2

ok so we drove a little bit more, stayed over at more people's houses (above)... including this luxuriant one in the Loire Valley (however you spell it). they actually had cherry trees in the gardern, so we had cherry jam, cherry cake, cherry bread, cherry whatever for breakfast.

this particular house was located along the Seine, with some rather picturesque views(below). on one morning, they had some sort of 'bicycle day' where everyone used bicycles to get wherever they wanted to go. we borrowed bikes and joined in the fun, catching sight of some hot air balloons along the way...

after all that time in the countryside, we went to paris proper. it was definitely eye-catching.

we saw the usual sights, the arc du triomphe, apparantly built after napoleon returned victorious or something like that. i thought it quite awe-inspiring.

we also went to see the eiffel tower. i didn't expect too much - big attractions often disappoint in my experience. indeed it was crowded with tourists. even more vexing was that there was two queues, one for climbing up and one for taking the elevator. there was no queue for walking, only for the elevator. i just had the feeling that most of them were there for the sake of bragging to their friends, "Oh! i've been on the eiffel tower!!", without really appreciating its majesty.

or what's left of it anyway. not when there are elevators built into the sides, snack stalls selling tidbits and drinks and restaurants on the two levels. even imagining it without all that, the structure itself isn't very appealing close up. all that metal seem to be twisted together without any real purpose, somehow.

ah well. the positive at least was that it commanded a good view of the city. maybe i am just dissing it because the weather for the past week had been above 30 - not what i wanted. note that we wore what we would have worn in singapore.

conclusion. the best time to see the eiffel tower is when it is lit up at night.

arc du triomphe.

i told my dad to take this photo. looks as if the street lamp taller than the tower, no? haha.

on top of the eiffel tower...

oh ya, we also visited the louvre, just for the sake of dan brown. quite nice, but also rather boring. absolutely crowded too, and i think that mona lisa hardly deserves all the attention it deserves.

and so that wraps up this long entry.

to end, there's this photo my dad took while we walking along the beach... and is now my wall paper... nice rite.

Strummed at 7:11 PM (x)